Triumph proved that as long as a team stays alive in a competition, no matter how bleak the outlook may be, anything is possible.

The Russian side, for the second time in eight days, travelled to Spain on Tuesday and beat Mad-Croc Fuenlabrada in front of a boisterous crowd.

The 80-65 triumph gave Vassily Karasev's team a 2-1 victory in the Quarter-Final tie and threw the Russians into a Final Four showdown with French juggernauts Elan Chalon.

Szolnoki, meanwhile, showed teams all over that it's okay to dream big, even if it means going through a Qualifying Round just to make it into Regular Season.

The Hungarians, who fell 77-69 in Finland to Tampereen Pyrintö in the first leg of their qualifier back on 4 October but rebounded with a 69-57 win in the return leg to progress, sealed their place in the Final Four with an 82-78 victory in Game 3 of their Quarter-Final clash with BK Ventspils.

Serving as acting head coach when Valdemaras Chomicius had to leave the bench for health reasons, he never allowed his players to accept elimination in the EuroChallenge, even after they began with three straight defeats in the Last 16.

That string of losses meant that Triumph had to win three straight to reach the Quarter-Finals, and they did.

While Americans Tywain McKee and Jerry Jefferson and Canadian Kyle Landry have been terrific, as everyone expected them to be, the biggest plus for Triumph has been the great contributions of players that Vassily Karasev called on Tuesday night "the future of the Russian national team."

If anyone should know about the national team, it's Karasev. For many years he was the point guard for Russia.

Szolnoki Olaj's Obie Trotter has been consistently one of the best point guards in the competition, averaging 17 points and 4.4 assists per game